I am currently running Tomato on my Buffalo router and am happy with it. However, my girlfriend might take my router, and I might buy a fancy new router supporting wireless-N and etc. Looks like I would need to shift from Tomato to DD-WRT. Anybody care to comment on this? Bad idea? Good idea? Other suggestions?

The Buffalo WZR-HP-G300NH. I've heard it might work with Tomato, maybe with the Teddy Bear mod? I've also heard the opposite, and that Tomato does not support wireless-N. I'd prefer to be 100% certain than Tomato will work before making a purchase on that assumption. Either that, or knowing DD-WRT is something I will likely enjoy.

_Sigma wrote:I just got a Netgear WNDR3700 and put DDWRT on it and I'm very happy so far.

That is a model that Tomato does not work, that I know. The 3500L however, Tomato should be better as it does not seem to exhibit the slowdowns found by SNB (is this still an issue?). That said, even the stock 3700 firmware is pretty good, according to SNB and Damage.

The Model M is not for the faint of heart. You either like them or hate them.

Tomato & DD-WRT allow you to set your own time outs for closed connections, allowing closed connections to be dropped quicker than by standard, which is quite helpful for P2P users. Both firmwares also allow for boosting the wireless transmitter power, increasing reception range. They also allow access to the b/g channels that the FCC doesn't allow to be used in the US, although this will only be helpful if you've got non-US standard client devices.

They also have much more robust logging and real-time monitoring capabilities compared to stock firmwares.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

I originally switched from stock firmware to Tomato for the sole reason that Tomato never dropped my wireless signal or needed a habitual reboot to perform normally. Since then, I have grown to utilize and appreciate its other features, and especially like the easy-to-navigate interface.

Captain Ned wrote:Both firmwares also allow for boosting the wireless transmitter power, increasing reception range. They also allow access to the b/g channels that the FCC doesn't allow to be used in the US, although this will only be helpful if you've got non-US standard client devices.

Don't forget that technically both of those changes aren't exactly legal...

Aside from features there's also a bandwidth improvement. Tomato leading, but both faster than stock. Though it's unlikely you'd need the speed. I switched from stock to tomato for stability. Up time is majorly improved.

I'm sure I've forgotten some. It basically elevates your router from the lame stock firmware to nearly the capabilities of a full stack Linux router but with a coherent prepackaged web-based configuration console.

axeman wrote:On another topic, it's not advisable on some newer routers (at least Broadcom SoC based ones) to increase the transmit power at all according to DD-WRT experts. In fact, in some cases, like the goofy spaceship-esque LinkSys models with integrated antennae, you may have better results by turning _down_ the tx power.